Reunion
by Nutzoide
Summary: The third in this Metroid trilogy, the sequel to Respite and Reflections. Samus is back and Patricia tries to say her piece, but an unwelcome visitor is not far off.


Reunion  
  
The third legal bit: This is done for free and is not a part of the official Metroid universe since I don't own that and will never get asked to work on it. Pity that.  
  
And non-legal bit part three: This is the third story in my Metroid series and you should read Respite and Reflections before reading this. This is also somewhat darker than the last two parts.

* * *

Reunion  
  
- A Metroid Fan-Fiction by Nutzoide -

* * *

After an age the pair of intense eyes locked onto the ship they had been waiting for. This entire fiasco grated on their owner, but it would at least be informative. He wasn't apprehensive, or if he was he didn't show it. He had simply decided that caution was worth the effort this time around. Past mistakes could be learned from, even if he didn't remember them all. His eyes waited until the small hunter ship had docked with the station before retreating back into the black depths. He wished caution didn't mean such a long journey back. Space was cold.

* * *

'Oh, there she is,' Patricia thought with a smile as Samus walked into the docking lounge, 'imposing as ever. She's right though, the suit looks a bit of a mess, and she's getting plenty of attention for it. I wonder where the other pieces are. Anyway, time to get her to the labs, before she gets too annoyed at these gawkers. Welcome back Sam.'  
  
She didn't say her welcome out loud though. She guessed that more attention was the last thing Samus wanted, and she was right. Samus had been fed up enough when her suit tried to slice itself apart. After the constant stares she had received at both spaceports she wasted no time in walking over, more than happy to leave the thing to the tech teams once she was out of it. "Let's go already."  
  
So saying she strode out into the station and towards the laboratories, Patricia following silently behind her, trying to keep up. The sooner they were away from the morbidly fascinated public eye, or anyone's eye, the better.

* * *

The surgical extraction process was long and very unpleasant. So much so in fact that the electrical nerve therapy that followed was almost a relief. The constant pins and needles sensations were far more preferable than disconnecting the clusters of synthetic relays the suit forced into her body. It was scarily ironic that the reverse procedure the suit performed when it was put back on was both short and strangely pleasant.  
  
Samus had once tried to skip the therapy and head straight home, but it seemed that the doctors did in fact know what they were doing. Her body had felt like lead after only a few steps. Knocking herself unconscious after her legs had given way wasn't the most embarrassing point of her life - the Chozo had taken that with them when they passed on - but it was pretty close. Patricia had laughed herself silly, much to Samus' consternation, so now Samus lay strapped to the table letting the charge stimulate her nervous system back into proper working order.  
  
Trish was working on the suit, leaving her to her thoughts. Thankfully knowing about the commission early had meant that the team had the replacement parts ready and waiting, so while she recovered they repaired the armour and hopefully fixed the mistakes that had been made first time around. She couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't managed to do it properly in the first place. She knew Trish's work wasn't infallible but it seemed like such a big mistake, getting some of the plating to bond while other pieces hadn't and so had consequently been sliced off when the morph ball was engaged. Still, using the morph ball function hadn't actually been necessary, just a quick convenience.  
  
Chasing down a wanted arms smuggler through a crowded city wasn't her style, but she took jobs like those for some quick money. With her speed and skills it wasn't a challenge, or at least it shouldn't have been. He had even been on foot, but after ducking through some tight alleys that her suit couldn't have fit through he had given himself an impressive lead and using her full speed in such a built up area would have been disastrous. Not stopping in time could have totalled any of the vehicles or buildings, not to mention what it would have done if she had hit a person. Instead she had decided to head him off as he ran down the slope that led out of the town. The shallow stream that ran down there passed under the winding road and would have given her the perfect ball run to pick him up when he reached the bottom.  
  
Instead however the suit seized up part way through the metamorphosis before slicing through the shoulder guards. The breastplate had almost cut her in two before it gave way and was torn off, leaving a fractured sphere that couldn't have rolled even with a boost start. She'd taken a good few seconds to uncurl herself and curse before taking off at a sprint, running down the stream instead and jumping each of the low bridges as she came to them. She'd caught the man, received her money, but this time her suit was in pieces and it would cost far more than she had just earned to repair it. Even if Patricia was as close a friend as she had she couldn't work for free, and business was business to them both. Samus consoled herself with the thought that it had at least happened when it hadn't mattered. She would need to make sure she tested everything out before leaving next time. If she couldn't depend on the suit when she had to then it was worse than useless. She was too used to using all its abilities and one memory slip over a malfunctioning part could end up being lethal.  
  
It wasn't as though she could blame Trish or her team though. She knew her better than to think that it had come about through carelessness or incompetence. And the young woman, who still looked like a teenager much to Samus' amusement, had delegated the first look to the team she had assembled in order to check op on Samus herself. She was sure having a freelance tech ordering them around grated on some of the lab techs, but they all knew better than to turn her down.  
  
It even started out like that, though they hadn't been the best of circumstances, but at least Trish paid her some mind along with her professional stance. Maybe that was why the youthful technician had ended up becoming the friend she had. They provided each other with something they needed - for Patricia a steady source of work, and on pioneering technology at that, and for Samus a repair, upgrade and supply station she could trust - but they didn't let that overshadow the fact that they were people as well as a commercial opportunity. The few people Samus had ever come to call friends outside her Chozo home had been the ones who had treated her as more than just a tool for hire. The military had been a bad move in that respect, and one she was glad she had left as soon as possible, but she had at least come to know Adam out of it.  
  
He had been a severe superior, especially for someone who worked like she did, but for all the grief he had had to give her over her conduct with the other recruits he had known that there was more to her than just insubordination. She was cold, but that coldness allowed her to do what she needed to objectively. She worked to her own plans and rogue factors in those plans made it both inefficient and dangerous. Her squad mates for example. She could think on the fly, and that left others in the dust when it didn't fit their jar headed training. He once commented that it was beyond him why anyone with her skills would end up in such a rigid and regime orientated outfit. Her resignation was accepted two days later, along with a well worded official farewell letter from Adam himself that dropped enough hints to help her get what he figured she wanted out of her capabilities.  
  
Even as the AI aboard her ship, whether or not it was Adam in his entirety or even him at all, he had enough respect for her as a person to let her work the way she had to. This new Adam wasn't what you could call a friend like her commanding officer had been though. There was something very machine like about the way he would talk about things that weren't connected to work. It felt impersonal. So very different from Trish.

* * *

Patricia was getting tired already. They had been working on the suit for almost ten hours now. It had been well worth it, they were sure they had solved the problem, but exhaustion was beginning to set in as they reassembled the outer armour plating.  
  
In the end it had all come down to one small oversight. They hadn't realised last time that it was the magnetic differentials of each plate that allowed the armour to slide over itself at key points to create the sphere, and each one had to be coded correctly. Much of the suit had been at fault there, but it was the major components, namely the chest and shoulders, that hadn't been able to cope with the change. Now they re-fitted each piece making sure to correlate the differentials with those of the other plates in relation to the base suit. The fact that the base 'fusion' suit had been able to make the morph ball alone was all that had saved the incident from being far worse than it had been.  
  
Now Patricia stood overseeing the whole process to make sure nothing like that slipped through again. The two youngest techs seemed to have no problem staying attentive to their work. Having never seen anything like this before they were in heaven and would have spent the whole week living on caffeine if that had been what it had taken. They were talented though and had taken her instruction very well, much to her relief. The others didn't quite have their enthusiasm, but having been called in before for Samus' requests they had enough knowledge of what they were dealing with to make up for it.  
  
The main thing for Patricia wasn't the work or the long hours though. Since getting the transmission from Sam over a week ago she had been getting the parts made up and anticipating seeing her friend again. She rarely ever got warning of these visits unless she saw the ship approaching from her window or saw the incoming notice on the docking lists. It had given her time to think, to plan and to try and steel her nerves even as they frayed over waiting to see the person she wanted to propose to. Then it had all fallen down in a massive anticlimax. She'd barely had twenty minutes to speak to Sam properly since she had arrived and there was far too much else of importance to even begin bringing up the subject of their personal feelings.  
  
She also knew what was going to happen once they finished work. She was going to go to bed and sleep for most of the next day. It was already 3am after all, and they had a few hours more to go. It was made worse since she had been over-thinking and anticipating the situation until she had given herself a mild case of insomnia. That wasn't like her at all, but she'd never been in that situation before, and now it had resolved itself she'd end up making up for the sleep that she missed. Now Sam was back she wanted to spend time with her, but it looked like the first day would be a total write off. When it wasn't work things didn't seem to like going as planned for her, not that there was much else that wasn't work.  
  
In fact they had all expected to be working on the suit for days if not over a week. The fact that they had found the problem so quickly was a testament to their efficiency, skill and fortune. It meant that there would be so much more time outside the lab, but as always that knowledge didn't do much to sooth the fact that the time she had waited patiently for would come and go before she had a chance to do anything.  
  
As they finished off and some of the techs began to leave she told herself to stop living inside her own romanticised mind. Plans and dream were all well and good, but she had to approach it practically as well. She would never have become as good a tech as she had by just believing in ideals of what she might be capable of.  
  
That night she went to bed totally spent, hoping that she could get it all to work out in the end. After all the time that it had dragged out already she didn't know whether to believe that she could any more, but she would lose anyway if she never found it within herself to try. Even so, despite her thoughts and worries it didn't take her long to fall asleep, the clock beside her bed reading 6.04am and bathing the room in a soft green glow.

* * *

That morning Samus took the time to luxuriate in a long, hot bath. The suit kept her sanitary, but this was one of the few pleasures she made sure to indulge every single time she was free from its confines. There was something hedonistic about having her body surrounded by water instead of the inner cloth and plastic-like supports of the suit. A freedom to float. Even lying on her bed without the metal shell around her the pull of gravity, be it natural or artificial, was inescapable. Except in the water, or at least that was how it felt. She had no need to support herself at all; the water did almost all of that for her. There was an exquisite womb-like feeling about the experience.  
  
When she had got in the night before she had been wiped out and had barely had the strength to undress before collapsing on the bed, falling into a deep sleep in mere moments. The electrical therapy allowed her to move again but it drained her at the same time. Being emotionally drained to begin with hadn't helped and she had slept for over eleven hours, recharging everything that had been spent in the last week. Consequently as she lay in her morning bath, her eyes closed and her mind wandering aimlessly for once, she felt better than she had in a long time.  
  
She took her time as she washed herself, wondering what to do next. She needed to make back some of the money the suit would end up costing her this time. She had enough in her savings, but that could disappear very quickly as she had long since found out. Her lifestyle was simple but it wasn't cheap, and her big jobs often had large costs to balance the large rewards. Still, she had some time. After the last year she needed a little time off. She had searched for information on that last metroid without success, and the two missions she had taken since then had been small but disproportionately stressful. Time with Trish to relax was something she felt she could give herself right now.  
  
She sighed as she got out of the hot water. She had only paid for a week's docking. Maybe another small job before buying a long stay docking pass would be a good idea. That would help take the edge off renting the quarters as well.  
  
Thoughts of money drifted from her mind as she towelled herself dry. She could worry about that when the time came. She could be looking for a small bounty while Trish was working. It wasn't as if they'd spend all their time together after all. It would also be a good chance to try out her suit. She'd booked the dock space and quarters after hearing the work would be finished so soon, and she felt it would be wise to test all her capabilities before heading out next time, just in case.  
  
Looking through her trunk she picked out some underwear, her rich green sleeved top, one of the dark pairs of jeans and the glove to cover the connection ports on her right hand. She was curious as to what Trish had been up to since last time. It never mattered much, but she always enjoyed hearing it and she guessed her friend felt the same way. For as much as she seemed to like hearing about it, what did the young tech know or care about bounty hunting? It seemed like something of a contradiction to her, but for a pair who had so little in common in life they had a lot in common as people.  
  
Once dressed she made her way down to Trish's place. Samus always took the same quarters for herself if she could. She had grown strangely fond of them considering they were just a faceless set of rooms like any other on the city-station. Reaching the door however she found the call button disabled. When she pressed it the small display above read 'Please do not disturb. Thank you.'  
  
That was strange, it wasn't particularly early. Though Samus was disappointed she didn't show it, even though there was no-one else in the corridor. 'She'll have her reasons,' she thought before leaving. She could stop by her favourite bar later and maybe get some of the things on her list of non-perishable supplies before that. She also called again from her quarters at mid afternoon just in case but got the same response. Instead she spent the rest of the day unpacking what little she had and taking the supplies to her ship, putting it out of her mind.

* * *

It was the next morning when Samus was woken by the incoming call to her quarters. The ringing wasn't as bad as the system's alarm clock but it still grated on the nerves when it was the first thing a person heard. She blinked herself as awake as she could and sat up in bed, giving the comms screen a deadly stare before telling it to allow the message.  
  
Patricia's hopeful face turned a little worried when she saw Samus and the disgruntled look she wore. "Oh, Sam I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."  
  
Samus gave a little groan to herself for her attitude and attempted a smile, which only half worked since she was still only half awake. "'s okay Trish. I ought to be awake anyway. What's up?"  
  
Patricia's worry vanished and she turned apologetic. "I'm sorry I missed your call yesterday. I didn't want to put the silencer on but I was working all night and... well, at least this way I won't feel terrible all the time you're here. It was worth it though, you know I said we found the problem already?"  
  
Samus nodded.  
  
"Well we fixed it too. You can try it out any time you want!" She beamed her accomplishment over the video link and hearing it Samus grew wide eyed, now completely awake.  
  
"Already? That's fast work Trish. I owe you."  
  
Patricia shook her head. "No, it turned out to be pretty simple in the end. It was our fault we didn't do it properly in the first place." She paused looking a little apprehensive.  
  
Samus had to wonder why. "Hey Trish, you okay? If you want more time with it that's okay, I'm here for a week. Like I said I owe you for this one."  
  
"Then, do you mind if I come round in a bit? I'd like to talk."  
  
Samus chuckled and shook her head. Since when did either of them need permission to drop in on each other for a chat? Then again, as she thought about it she supposed it was always her who visited Trish's when they got together, not the other way around. "Of course you can. What's on your mind?"  
  
Patricia hesitated. If she could do it at all it wasn't over the video link. "Just... stuff, you know? Umm, anyway I'll let you get dressed and everything. I'll see you in about half an hour."  
  
Samus nodded, "Sure." She was curious but didn't make much of it in the end. She was glad they could make up for missing yesterday. Having so few people you were close to made those you had that much more important. That was what had got her down the previous day.  
  
On her end Patricia smiled weakly and closed the link. She'd set it going now, and there was no stopping it. Once you take the first step you have to follow through or fall, there isn't an in-between because putting it off becomes surrender, and one that you can't take back. That knowledge made her feel nauseous.  
  
'Am I so inept at this it has to make me ill?' she asked herself. She knew it wasn't that hard really, it was just her nerves over something so new to her. This once she wished she had led a normal childhood like everyone else seemed to. Except Sam. That final thought comforted her. Whatever Sam had learned of romance and the like she would probably have had to learn much the same way as Patricia was doing now. She guessed dating prospects among the Chozo hadn't been good!  
  
In the back of her mind she just hoped Sam would not be as alien to romance as she was, because that could make everything very awkward.

* * *

The rest of that morning ended up much like most other times they managed to get together. Catching up always took a little while, even when there wasn't a huge amount to say. This time it was Samus who had the bulk of the news after her last mission and her theories on her failure to find anything on anyone who might want to get a metroid onto the station. Patricia listened with rapt attention and she broke into a huge smile when Samus said she might be staying for a while soon.  
  
Seeing that smile Samus gave her a warning look. Trish had wanted her to be taking less dangerous jobs for a long time. "Easy Trish, don't start thinking I'm giving up my bounty work. It's just about time I took a break, so one more for pocket money and that'll be it for a month or two."  
  
Even so Patricia couldn't stop grinning. "About time. I bet you'll be bored stiff after a week here though! Why not head off to one of the beach resorts on Minia? I've got nothing lined up since I've been prepping to do your suit so I might just tag along!"  
  
Samus smiled, an unusual calmness surrounding her. "I think I'd get bored there faster than here. Besides, I'd end up killing the tourists after a day."  
  
"No," said Patricia, "Minia's islands are empty most of the time. Just several dozen small places with a little cove each, or between two. I've seen the brochures."  
  
Samus raised an enquiring eyebrow. "I never thought of you as a beach person."  
  
Patricia smiled back. "I'm not really, but it's all overgrown beyond the beaches and I like forests. Add a beach view to that and it looks okay to me." She shrugged, remembering. "I was going to go for my eighteenth but I never found the time."  
  
"Well we'll see," Samus said. "I've got another job to find before I decide anything. It would be nice to have company besides Adam though, even just here."  
  
That name brought up the worry in Patricia again and for once she voiced it. "Umm, just who is Adam? You've mentioned him before but you've never actually introduced us or told me anything about him."  
  
Come to think of it Samus realised she hadn't. "That's a bit complicated, but he's my ship's AI. The Federation lumped me with him when they gave me this ship just before BSL, but he's turned out alright. Apparently he had his personality scanned from my old C.O. which was ironic since I'd already named him after him."  
  
"So... what happened to the real Adam then?"  
  
Samus paused, becoming quieter. "He died. A while back."  
  
Patricia's features fell. "Oh, I'm sorry." She dreaded asking this, but she felt as though she had no choice. "Were you, well, close?"  
  
"Close?" Samus echoed. "There was a lot of respect there. A lot. He was a good friend but we didn't really get to know each other much outside the job. Anyway, it was a long time ago. I just named the computer after him in a fit of nostalgia."  
  
Patricia felt guilty for being so relieved by that. "Well, if you do end up heading off somewhere for a break, then I'd be happy to come along. I know it's nice to have someone to talk to sometimes."  
  
"Yeah, thanks." Samus seemed to brighten back to herself again, or as bright as she ever was. "And speaking of that, what was it you wanted to talk about before?"  
  
Patricia fumbled over her thoughts and looked down from where she sat cross legged on Samus' bed. "Well, it's kind of several things. Umm... well yeah the first is that I've got the phazon beam done."  
  
It wasn't the main point, but it was true. Over the past year she had tried to put her heart back into the work and the first prototype was now finished. Hearing that lit up Samus' face once again and Patricia continued. "It is just the prototype and it can be a little twitchy but it does work and it is stable. I tested it out when I took some time off-station. I've got a few additions to make to help stabilise it, but I don't need it here to do them. You can take it."  
  
Samus was a little awed. "Thanks Trish. I know how much that cost you. I really do owe you this time."  
  
Patricia shook her head, "Stop saying that Sam. It was my own fault I got hurt and if I hadn't kept putting it off it would have been done ages ago. Anyway, you paid in advance for that one. Just promise me you won't kill yourself with it. That's all the extra payment I need." She gave a small laugh at how she sounded. "Besides, I charged you through the nose for it anyway."  
  
Samus smiled in response to seeing her cheer up after that little rant. "This is the only time I'll ever be glad to hear it."  
  
"Anyway, I was thinking," Patricia said, trying to sound casual about it, "it's been a while since we went out for a drink or anything. Do you... want to tonight? I thought we might have dinner or something and head to a bar."  
  
Samus nodded, not noticing the tension in her friend's voice this time. Why would she pick up on something that she would never have expected to be there? She was feeling too mellowed about her situation right now to analyse everything the way she might for work. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"  
  
"I thought maybe Elmenia?" she said with a trace of hope.  
  
That surprised Samus a little. They didn't go to places like that, or at least she didn't. "That's... expensive Trish."  
  
"I know," Patricia replied, "but I just figured we could maybe splash out once. Especially since you're going to have a break soon. It'll be my treat. After getting paid for doing your suit I can afford it."  
  
Samus smiled and shook her head. Patricia had it all worked out. Samus couldn't even feel guilty about the price because she was paying for Trish's work this time. "Okay, but I don't have anything to wear to a place like that."  
  
Patricia beamed at her, hardly believing that she had said yes, even if Samus didn't really know the reason behind what was going on. "Don't worry about that. Just casual smart will do. After seeing some of the people eating there I don't think they're as stuffy as they used to be!"  
  
Even so, Samus had to wonder what she had in her wardrobe that would work. She didn't even do casual smart occasions. She didn't do any occasions really.

* * *

Samus was right, the Elmenia restaurant felt very strange. It didn't look as big from the front as it did inside and the entire expanse of genuine wooden furniture and polished flooring was coloured and lit the most soothing shades of red, burgundy and brown. It felt almost too comfortable. She had expected the music to be louder and more classically orientated but there was just a background murmur of gentle soothing melodies. No-one had to shout to be heard across their tables. It was a strange combination of relaxation and class.  
  
Looking around the customers varied widely. Business men in their suits shared expensive meals, the lone eccentrics ate and drank with blissful relish and couples gazed pinkly at each other over their food, holding hands and talking more than they ate. The staff were smart but not stuffy. Their waitress had been very friendly and helpful in her tight cut suit, helping Samus out when she had hesitated over her menu, unsure of what several dishes actually were. That had been deeply embarrassing, reducing her to monosyllables to cover her uncertainty. This wasn't a place bounty hunters were supposed to go.  
  
And yet she found she was actually enjoying it. Patricia seemed to know what she was doing and the food was superb. Extortionate, but you got what you paid for. She could relax there easily and the two of them chatted aimlessly, just as secure as they felt when they were alone. Everyone else seemed to fade away and the staff knew just when they were needed, and left them to themselves the rest of the time.  
  
Samus in the end had worn her dress suit from years back; the one the military had provided her with. It was severe, but without the jacket and left to hang as it was wont it passed well for semi formal, and the sewn emblem on the left shoulder still gave her a sense of presence when people noticed her. The green trousers also, by strange coincidence, seemed to fit well with the restaurant's decor. She had worn her hair loose this time, so even in trousers and shirt there was no mistaking a very attractive woman.  
  
By the same token Patricia had made an effort with her hair this time. Very short as it was a comb through had taken off the rough edge and she had actually worn some light lipstick this time. Samus hadn't even known she had owned any. Her blouse was simple but pleasant and that green skirt, the only one Patricia had, had come out again along with some nice dainty shoes. They both knew this was overdone for them, but what was the harm this once?  
  
It wasn't until they had finished their meal and were savouring the last of the bottle of red wine before Patricia decided to do something. She had been trying to build up to it, but in the end she hadn't really known how. Always one for practical clothing the skirt had a small pocket, and in that pocket sat the ring. She couldn't propose, that was far too far, but it was that that finally gave her strength.  
  
"Sam," she said, trying the only approach that came to her. "I don't... Have you ever thought about, well, maybe not being so alone?"  
  
Samus blinked, a little confused. "How do you mean? It... suits me. I don't get lonely."  
  
"I didn't used to either," Patricia replied. "But everyone does every now and again. Don't they?"  
  
Samus nodded. "True."  
  
"I'm okay with my lifestyle," Patricia continued, "but I don't want to be alone forever." She paused, but Samus didn't reply. "You do feel like that sometimes, don't you?"  
  
Samus was silent for a moment. "Sometimes. I wouldn't inflict my life on anyone else though. You've seen what happens."  
  
"What if they didn't care?"  
  
Samus paused again. "Is there a point to this?"  
  
Patricia looked down into her glass. "Yes."  
  
When she didn't elaborate however Samus pushed the issue. "What is it?"  
  
"I..." Patricia was beginning to feel desperate. Maybe she couldn't... "I just can't do this any more."  
  
That worried Samus, even though the subject wasn't one she liked. "Trish, what's up with this?"  
  
"Why do you call me Trish?" Patricia shot back. "Why do you let me call you Sam? Anyone else would lose their teeth!"  
  
Her vehemence was a surprise to the hunter. "... We just do. You're a friend."  
  
Patricia looked her in the eyes. She looked almost ready to cry. "That's just it. It hurts too much to keep dancing around like this, and it only gets worse when you leave. I want more."  
  
The flicker of understanding finally passed between them.  
  
"I love you Sam."  
  
There was a very long silence. Samus hadn't heard those words since she was less than four feet tall. The Chozo had been kind and caring, but they had never used the word love when it came to children, even their own. Since that point the only people she ever spent time with were professional colleagues and the odd person she might have been able to call friend. Love had never entered into it. Until today that is.  
  
Samus had had many kinds of power in her life, and once again she held everything a person was in her hands. Only this time it wasn't a matter of pulling a trigger or not. The girl opposite her would go on living, but the answer she gave could crush her just as easily. For once being in control made her nervous, even afraid. How could she say she loved Patricia back? She had no idea whether she did or not. She'd never thought about the option of being in love with someone she knew. Love was something that happened to other people. She needed time to think, to find out what she felt. But that didn't give any resolution. Patricia deserved resolution when her emotions were on the line. Samus had already scarred her body, if not directly, and would have gone to great lengths to avoid doing anything else, but she wasn't about to lie to her best friend either.  
  
And then there was her first point. Trish didn't deserve to have the life Samus led inflicted upon her. Samus could see there was no way she could win whatever she said now, and in a cruel joke of pragmatism there was no way she could lose either.  
  
It was Patricia that beat her to speaking first though. She had no moral or emotional turmoil to wade through except the answer she wanted to hear. The one she knew had so little chance of coming right now. This wasn't the movies, or her dreams. No mutual confessions right on the spot. "I guess this is the point when the alarms are supposed to sound and you rush off to save the universe again. Then we both get time to think everything over and it all works out for the best in the end, whatever that may be."  
  
Samus looked at her, her face not betraying her worries. "I don't hear any sirens."  
  
"Neither do I."  
  
Another pause. "Trish, I don't know the answer. I'm not used to this."  
  
"I didn't ask you anything," Patricia responded, trying to force a smile onto her face. "I just had to say it. I... have for a long time. I don't mind what happens now, as long as you know."  
  
"Of course you mind," Samus replied. "That's why I have to give you an answer. I will, but I have to work it all out. I'm sorry Trish but I need some time."  
  
Patricia closed her eyes and smiled, her hand wrapped tightly around the ring in her pocket. "I know. I'm just... glad I finally said it. I'll be okay with whatever you want, so don't worry."  
  
She took the last sip of wine in her glass. "Sam, would you mind if we skip the bar?"  
  
"That might be a good idea." Being drunk right now wasn't what either of them needed, even if it might have been appealing to start with.  
  
In the end Patricia took the bill as she said she would despite Samus' protest. The man at the cashier's desk smiled at the pair, one of the waitresses having filled him in on what had happened the minute before. "And next time you are here feel free to take a bottle of champagne if you wish, with our compliments."  
  
Samus narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't get involved."  
  
He dropped his professional charm a little as he replied. "Some of us just like happy endings Miss Aran. Some of us were also there in the Boatman crowd that night, and know how much we should owe you for it."  
  
Samus was a little startled by the fact that he, and the waitresses, had recognised her out of her suit.  
  
"It wasn't that hard if you care to see what you look at," the cashier replied enigmatically.  
  
Later, when it came time for the two to go their separate ways Samus halted her friend as she said goodnight and made to leave. "Trish, I'm glad you let me know." With that she gave the small young woman a hug. Almost a foot's difference in height didn't bother them in the least. Patricia returned the embrace with all the strength she could, Samus' hand on her head.  
  
That night, no matter how hard she tried, Samus couldn't fall asleep, her feelings, knowledge and worries circling in her mind. And no matter how hard Patricia tried not to, she found tears rolling down her cheeks as drifted off into her dreams.

* * *

Had she waited a day later, Patricia would have got the alarms her romanticised whimsy had foreseen.

* * *

Hamli Pateni was a dock worker. His was nominally called the morning shift at docking station three, but that was just like any other shift since morning, noon and night meant very little on Cassidi station. Checking cargo manifests, running the refueller, and shipment transfers were his lot, as they had been for the last four years. It was both boring and overly strenuous, but if he needed a silver lining to his employment cloud it was that in another six months he had a very good chance of being promoted to the cushy slot of air lock operator. No more heavy lifting there, and he would have to stay on the ball to make sure it all ran smoothly.  
  
Until then he joked with his dock worker friends on their breaks, bemoaning the lack of gratitude thrown their way and wishing for some excitement in their lives. For Mr. Pateni having his head bitten off by a fourteen foot long space faring lizard wasn't quite what he had in mind.  
  
Everyone working on that dock had looked on in horror as the dragon like creature crawled with lithe agility out of the airlock as they opened it and decapitated their co-worker with one swift bite. Few of them had seen anyone killed before and they either froze up or ran as the man was eaten. The creature ignored them even as the warning came over the comms system of a Zebesian style ship entering the area. Not many knew who or what Zebesians were, but they went by a much more recognisable name most of the time. Space Pirates.  
  
Ridley looked up from the red stain where his meal had bled over the floor. 'About time to work.' He had changed yet again since he had last been seen by any sentient being outside the insectoid Zebesians. A run of wires and primitively exposed cybernetics protruded from the left side of his head and neck, running down his spine to the base of his lethal tail. His right arm and both legs had small plates where they joined his long, deceptively bony torso, but his left arm, more enhanced than his other limbs, he kept hidden behind his folded wings, as if protecting it.  
  
He slinked three legged up the side of the control box and thrust his fist through the window, showering the cowering controller with glass. With surprisingly dexterous claws he started the airlock sequence and outside the Space Pirate ship began to dock, a dozen bipedal insects waiting to land, power and wave blasters in hand.  
  
The emergency sirens began to sound. Evidently the station security knew what they were doing and by the time he and his Pirates were ready to begin the security troops would already be waiting for them. So much the better. He was still hungry.

* * *

Samus was still asleep when the priority message came to her quarters. After getting only three hours she'd managed to sleep through the alert siren that was blaring in the corridor outside. Since the advisory was to stay inside their rooms it hadn't sounded inside. The security chief's first orders had been to deal with the problem themselves, readying a squad of troops outside the one and only door to the docking bay. When the wall was blown in and his men were incinerated by the dragon creature instead he made the call to Samus' room. He was always informed whenever she came aboard, just in case.  
  
"What? What's the problem?" Samus asked as she tried to focus her eyes on the screen. With everything on her mind right now she didn't need another problem.  
  
She was getting one whether she liked it or not. "Ms. Aran, we have an emergency situation. Space Pirates have broken onto the station and we can't handle them."  
  
"Oh shit." Samus was awake after hearing that. "What do you want me to do about it? How many are there?"  
  
"A dozen or so, but they've got a dragon with them and it's tearing us apart! It's all we can do to keep it occupied while we get everyone evacuated from the shopping arcade! God only knows where the insects went, but we can't spare the people to hunt them down!"  
  
Samus' features froze. "It can't be..."  
  
"Ms. Aran we need your help _now_. If you know about this creature then help us deal with it!"  
  
'I sure hope I don't know it,' she thought. "I'll be there."  
  
She cut the link and dashed out into the station in the shorts and vest she had been sleeping in, heading for her suit. She opened up the mobile speaker she'd grabbed as she left and rang Patricia. "Trish, you there?"  
  
Across the speaker radio Patricia's wavering voice replied. "S-  
Sam? Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine, get to the lab, I need to be back in the suit and fully powered. Bring the Phazon cannon."  
  
There was a pause as Patricia absorbed that information, very scared. "Okay. Be careful."  
  
"You too," Samus said seriously.

* * *

Samus reached the lab before Patricia did though, and she wasted no time in suiting up. The techs that were there followed her orders to the letter as she was powered up and re-supplied with missile and bomb charges. Any onlooker might have though she was wasting her time with that, but Samus had a nasty feeling in her stomach.  
  
"When Trish gets here tell her to call security and find me. I can't wait for her."  
  
The techs nodded as the armoured warrior left and knuckled down to wait. Samus meanwhile sprinted through the station far faster than she should have been able but the corridors were empty, everyone having closeted themselves away already. She even managed to find one of the Pirates on her way to the shopping arcade but it didn't even have a chance to raise its gun before she ploughed through it, killing it instantly. The broken corpse that was left was soon far behind her and she reached her target before she knew it, watching the huge lizard open its fernal glottis again and spew a flaming ball of mucus at another unfortunate soldier.  
  
By all the laws of reality she knew it couldn't have been possible, but it was. She had faced him time after time and had made as sure as she could he had been well and truly dead on Zebes. Then Zebes and everything on it had been blown to dust. The X infected mutation on BSL had been a fluke of genetic melding, left over from god knows when, and even that had been completely destroyed when that station was annihilated.  
  
But it was still... "Ridley."  
  
Without another word she locked a missile charge into her cannon barrel. The minute self propelled shell barely had time to absorb the immense amount of energy that was thrust into it as the hunter charged the S grade unit to maximum. 'Super Grade' explosive weaponry was suicidal on a space station if it detonated anywhere near the hull but safety was the least of Samus' worries. As far as she was concerned a Prime Metroid was the most fearfully deadly being that existed, but Ridley came a very close second. Her aim was as true as ever though and the dragon creature never knew what hit him as the super missile impacted his left side, not managing to break through the immensely tough hide of his wing but burning it badly and taking out some of the floor under him.  
  
Ridley looked around sharply to see what he had wanted. 'Samus Aran.' Despite the pain in his wing and the arm that was still hidden beneath it he grinned, showing every one of his huge, sharp teeth. Now the dance was on.  
  
He launched at her, ignoring everything else around him now and landed only feet away, lashing out his lithe, muscular tail and catching her as she vaulted aside, sending her flying across the wide hallway and through one of the shop windows. She responded by firing another S charge missile which the lizard barely managed to avoid. As he did, the weapon destroying a huge chunk of wall behind him, a massive blast of frozen gas impacted his right leg, followed by another missile, this time with a regular charge. The combination was enough to stop him long enough for the explosion to hit the ice that had formed and lacerate his limb enough to draw blood. He watched as his target fled the wreckage of the shop front. She was forever formidable.  
  
On her side Samus knew her best chance was her super missiles and fired them off as best she could as Ridley assaulted her with tail, claw and flaming mucus. The missiles didn't look like they did much, but their effect was more than skin deep. The blasts she made from her beams when she couldn't re-load in time scorched, fried and froze his leathery hide, but they were all superficial. Missiles and morph ball bombs also bruised muscles and stressed bone under the scaly leather. Getting in close for a bomb was out of the question so she dodged and ducked as best she could, watching as her missile charge supplies and armour energy reserves were slowly depleted.  
  
Ridley was as fast and powerful as ever but never once took flight this time. He wouldn't have had the room to manoeuvre the way she remembered him doing before. She also had a new target: the exposed cybernetics. Whatever they were for she had a chance to disable them, but Ridley protected himself well, rolling to take the blast on his skin if he had no other choice. Stupidly he seemed to care much less about his head itself than the wires, cables and rods that protruded from it. He also never showed his left arm, cutting his manoeuvrability that bit more. Despite her explosive barrage any onlooker could have seen that she was being tossed around like a rag doll. Each swipe or lash did massive damage to her protective energy reserves. Had the suit not been charged it would have been carved open like a tin can in only two or three hits, no matter how good it was, and that charge was steadily going down cell by cell. Even so she was only taking one in every five attacks her alien nemesis made as she leaped and slid around him, keeping her advantage of distance as best she could.  
  
From long range all Ridley had to rely on was his fire breath, which despite the carnage around him was not an accurate weapon against a real foe. After almost two full minutes of the insanely destructive battle the entire area was laid waste. Only a few shops in those rows had escaped being destroyed and the walls, floor and ceiling were a mass of blast holes and melted metal. The only onlookers were the few security cameras that had escaped the destruction, recording the battle as a testament to two of the most powerful beings there were. It was as Samus fell back to escape a swipe from Ridley's claw that she took her chance, launching a missile just as he opened his mouth to spew his flaming breath over her. The explosive took him full in the face, sending him cringing back as he let out another piecing scream of a call, warding off the intense pain. He looked over and snarled as Samus got to her feet again. He could bide his time like this no longer.  
  
Then to Samus' surprise a woman's scream filled her ears through the suits sensors. "WAIT!"  
  
Samus paused for only a moment, but that was enough time for her adversary to finally spread his wings, sitting back on his haunches and revealing the source of that voice. A broken and bloodied woman hung clumsily, the mass of claw and cybernetics that was Ridley's left hand buried in her back, hooking directly into her spinal cord. He raised her and with lurching, uncoordinated movements she looked straight at Samus with wide, glazed eyes. "We must talk."  
  
The words had far too much normalcy about them coming from someone impaled on a dragon's claw. "Who are you?" Samus replied, not lowering her weapon.  
  
Ridley grinned and a grotesque human parody of that wide, toothy grin broke onto the woman's face. "You know my name Samus Aran," she said, in that dull but now amused voice. "This is my puppet. I have need to talk this time, and so I take a human voice."  
  
Under her helmet Samus' brow creased. "You're sick."  
  
"I am practical," replied Ridley's puppet girl. It was all the more disturbing that she might have been called an attractive young lady once. Her brown hair was now thick and matted, the generic green surgical patient's gown was torn in places and stained with dried blood and her arms and legs were bare and bruised. And the expressions that crossed her face were so unnatural.  
  
"Let the dead rest in peace!" Samus said, her voice laced with deadly anger.  
  
The puppet's grin widened almost skeletally. "It's not dead. Don't think to rescue it though Samus Aran, there is no mind left to save in this shell. I know how you creatures are."  
  
Samus' hard voice took on an even sharper edge. "Then you know how much more I'll enjoy killing you for doing this."  
  
"I'm sure you would. However, even as mindless meat I doubt you would put a missile into it. You are not yet removed enough from your kind to see its innards flow across the walls."  
  
Samus locked a charge into her cannon. "Shall we find out then?"  
  
The puppet gave a clumsy shrug as Ridley rolled his eyes. "You can do whatever you wish to it. After I am done with it. I also know you would not cooperate Samus Aran, so I have decided to assure your attention to what I say." He paused letting the veiled threat sink in. "While that happens - and you can do nothing about it, so don't waste our time trying - allow me a question now I can ask it. How do you survive your 'morph ball'? I would be pleased to know."  
  
Samus smirked at that, remembering the test results she had read of Pirate attempts to replicate it so long ago. "The ones who could tell you are dead. That's your reward for killing them."  
  
The Ridley puppet let out a small sigh. "Not that it matters now. Simple curiosity."  
  
"Enough!" Samus shouted. "Either say your piece or never say it. Either way you die now!"  
  
Ridley didn't even need to move, the puppet reaching to intercept the small energy blast she shot at him. Even as hardened as she was Samus couldn't help but swallow in revulsion as her shot vaporised the unprotected young woman's right foot, leaving a cauterised lump and a smell of burning meat.  
  
Ridley smiled inwardly. The more unbalanced he made his foe the easier his victory would be should he have to fight again so soon. "Patience, I warned you Samus Aran. Anything you do is your own act of will. However, prolonging this is evidently futile and the insects have been efficient. They wish to bargain with you. I am their intermediary, otherwise you would have slaughtered them before hearing their proposal."  
  
"And why should I listen to them at all?" she asked. Scanning around she could see several Space Pirates appearing at the ends of the shopping arcade and from the high walkways above.  
  
"Turn around," Ridley said, calm confidence on both his faces.  
  
Samus would never have done it if her sensors hadn't detected a human signal by the doorway. 'They've taken hostages?' She turned and magnified the scene. There stood Trish standing unsteadily between two Pirates, two guns pointed at her. Samus could just make out the words on her lips as she sobbed her fearful apology to her.  
  
"You BASTARDS!" Samus cried, whirling back to Ridley with her gun raised. There was no way she could kill all the pirates before one of them got a shot off. Even at top speed she couldn't have made it there to cover her in time, and the impact would have crushed Trish even if she had made it.  
  
And Ridley knew it. His puppet girl had cocked her head, smiling, and was waving a jerky finger at her in amused admonishment. "That would not be a good idea Samus Aran. Now you have our first proposal. We shall talk on our ship and you will make the deal offered otherwise the scenario before us shall end right now."  
  
"You cowards," Samus snarled at him, her blood boiling.  
  
The puppet gave her an unbearably pleasant smile. "Should they take their chances against you alone? I cannot vow to kill you after past failures after all, as much as I might be interested to try. You have already proven formidable prey. But now you have a possible result none of your kind could ignore in favour of force. I am capable of doing the research required and you will not let this one die."  
  
Building the courage to give in was hard, even if it was Trish whose life was on the line. This was Ridley she was bowing her will to.  
  
Ridley smiled as he watched her form sag a little in defeat. "This is only the deal to make you listen Samus Aran. In keeping with human desire there is another incentive for agreeing to the deal they will make. Of course, if you turn that down the insects will likely take their chances and she will die anyway, but that is your concern. Follow or she dies."  
  
"Insects?" she asked as they began to move off to the Pirate ship. "You don't think very highly of them."  
  
"No," Ridley replied, "but they have a job for me and I had no desire to remain as you last left me."

* * *

The Pirate's ship, now back in space and left alone by the station's fighter squadron since they had taken hostages, looked like a relic from past human space travel. There were no clean curves, polished surfaces or technical panels. It looked like it had been made from a scrap metal heap. Monotonous brown and grey metal beams and grating covered every surface, pipes and chains hung from the walls and ceilings giving the Space Pirates perfect surfaces to climb along. To Patricia it only terrified her more, harking back to primal human fears of dim light, rusty metal and pitfalls leading to dark, unknown bowels of the ship.  
  
The human ships of this type had been long ago when the masses made their own craft, irrespective of the safety or look of such cheaply created ships. A massively successful combination of technical skill and corner cutting. It was a long time before aesthetics one again caught up with the space faring minds to create the ships of the last three generations. Now they appeared in horror movies and gothic period drama, highlighting the cramped, unpleasant 'industrial' age of space travel.  
  
Patricia had no tears left to run down her cheeks. All she could do was stand there on the grated balcony, a large energy weapon pressed against her hair as the debate began below. Even so, she couldn't stop quivering. Her mind was slowly pulling itself from the blank panic that had engulfed her, enough to finally realise everything she saw, but it didn't help. The surreal metal ship around them and the tinny smell of the Pirates themselves clawed at her raw nerves, her racing heart pounding in her ears.  
  
It was her own twisted little fairy tale. Her knight in shining armour debating with the evil dragon below to rescue her. Pity there was no sunset in space for Samus to carry her off into.  
  
'Please don't let me die here Sam,' she whimpered into her own mind. She wasn't brave enough to say that if she had to die she wanted it to be with the woman she loved. It was true, but she didn't want them to die at all. They couldn't die until Sam had told her how she felt. If the answer was no, then she wanted time to be happy again before she died, and if it was yes she wanted time to be with her and be happy together before it happened. There would never come a time when she would be willing to lay down and die. And feeling so helpless caught by these aliens it felt like she was doing just that.  
  
And if she tried to do something she would die, and maybe Sam would too. It all rested on Sam making a deal that went against every instinct in her body.

* * *

"This entire fiasco was for a peace treaty?" Samus could hardly believe it. "You slaughtered all those people on Cassidi to get my attention, and now you expect me to stop hunting you?"  
  
"That is what I said," Ridley answered through his glassy eyes puppet. "Must your kind repeat everything you are told?"  
  
This was ridiculous. After all her battles and most notably the destruction of Zebes she had managed to wipe out, as Ridley now told her, not only the organisational mind behind the Space Pirates, but ninety percent of their population. Mother Brain's plan had been ingenious. Her enforcers and generals like Ridley and Kraid had been carefully selected from their species and trained both physically and genetically to be some of the most powerful members of their races, be those races natural or scientifically engineered. And the mass of her forces had been the entire Zebesian race. They were pitiful in comparison but enough for their tasks. They also had their numbers. Mother Brain had psychically enslaved them to the point that they were hatched naturally obedient to her. And now they were without a being their lifestyles had depended on, and with only a fraction of their numbers left. Without proper measures they would soon become extinct.  
  
"And what about you 'Generals'" Samus had asked poisonously. "Were your brains hacked into too?"  
  
"The positions came with many reasons to follow Mother Brain." Ridley had replied. "Mother Brain understood the concept of reward for loyalty and skill."  
  
And now that understanding was one Ridley used. "Your reward for compliance will be the life of your... mate?" The puppet quirked an eyebrow, making Samus growl. "In any case, it is only the insects that seek non-interference. I understand the need for revenge so you may hunt me all you like. I too look forward to killing you. I wish to see why I was so easily defeated in the past."  
  
"Your memory must not be too good," Samus said, her stomach turning over what was in the deal. She also didn't like hearing about her need for vengeance. It was a truth of her life, she sought revenge for what Ridley had personally done to her, but she didn't want to hear that word. She would not admit that she could sink herself to that level.  
  
"On the contrary," the battered young woman on Ridley's hand said, "my memory is excellent. This is the other incentive for compliance. Mother Brain knew her generals were not indestructible and so made us submit to memographs before each operation. She also had out genetic samples, so should anything happen she had a replacement ready. I could not very well submit memory after you had defeated me, could I? All I can do is study in preparation each time we meet. Our fight was insightful, but I still wish to see how you were able to slay me in the past."  
  
"So you have a little clone family. No wonder."  
  
"Clones?" Ridley said, "Nothing so crass. I would hardly expect you to grasp the technicalities. In any case you will be given the locations of these memographs and gene samples of Mother Brain's. What you do with them is up to you."  
  
"You are personally giving up the chance to live past our next battle?" That was so suspicious it couldn't be true. "Why?"  
  
"I have no plans to be slain again." Ridley's puppet growled at her. "And my only interest in you is my own curiosity over your power and prowess. You are not even close to worth the effort of killing for food, just a perpetual and chronic nuisance I should have taken care of years ago. If you wish to hunt me that is your privilege and I will welcome the battle, but I cannot now be bothered with you otherwise. You have the proposal being offered. Will you take it?"  
  
"What happens when the Pirates have their numbers back and start killing again?" Samus asked. She was going to agree to the offer anyway, but she could at least know that. Once she had made sure Ridley wouldn't be coming back she could hunt him down and kill him for good, and if the Pirates overstepped their mark she would deal with them for it just like anyone else.  
  
"What they do is up to them. Should they warrant hunting again others will fill your place if you choose not to."  
  
Samus nodded as best as her helmet would allow. "Fine. I accept. Give me the clone locations and Patricia and I leave these things alone." She gestured to the Pirates that stood and clung about the room.  
  
Both Ridley and his puppet smiled and he gave his gravelly roar, followed by the excited chittering of the Pirates. "I am pleased you know reason Samus Aran," the puppet said, showing far too many teeth.  
  
"Whatever," Samus replied. "Let us out safely and get the hell away from us."

* * *

Of course it wasn't quite that simple. Ridley had thought out the plan very well. To make sure nothing underhanded happened the Pirates would keep Patricia on their ship until they were a safe distance away, then send her back in a life pod. Likewise Ridley would return to Cassidi station with Samus, and would fly back to the ship himself when they released the girl. Samus couldn't afford to leave an explosive parting gift for them, and the Pirates were effectively deprived of their means to stand up to her.  
  
And so Samus and Ridley stood in the docking bay, waiting for Patricia's pod to arrive. It was agonising for Samus, having the object of her hatred only a few feet away and being unable to do anything about it. And now that he had the means Ridley was far too chatty for her liking. Hearing his words come from the lips of a battered living corpse, and a human one at that, sickened her.  
  
"And how do you expect to breed with this 'Patrisha' female?" he rambled on, amused at the discomfort he was causing. "She is your chosen mate, or perhaps you are hers. In either case your species can't last long with mating attitudes like that."  
  
At Samus' continued silence the puppet cocked her head and put on a cute voice. "Come now Samus Aran. You have no reason not to tell. Perhaps you find this tool of mine attractive also? I could leave it for you. I will have no further need of it and after this long I doubt it will taste..."  
  
"Shut up!" Samus finally spat out. "I liked it better when all you could do was roar at me!"  
  
Ridley took another look out of the docking window. "We have a few minutes Samus Aran. They might as well be profitable. I do suppose with all your technology such a mating might not be so out of the question. But how to decide who should carry it? Quite a quandary."  
  
"So says the freak survivor of a dead race!" Samus bit out, hoping to hit as hard a nerve as he had struck with her. "I don't see any mating prospects in your future!"  
  
Ridley smiled and his puppet giggled manically. "How little you know Samus Aran. Freak I may now be but as I have said, Mother Brain gave many perks for our work. I will sire many progeny, all as mighty as I, and perhaps it will be your own race that shall bear them. My race will rise again from the fairy books and spread its wings across the galaxy. Maybe, once you have found me again, I shall keep you alive long enough to bear the first."  
  
Samus' gaze bore into the puppet's skull with deadly intensity. "I will kill you."  
  
"You will try," Ridley replied. "The outcome has yet to be seen."  
  
"I've done it before."  
  
Ridley shrugged as only a creature like him could. "And I have learned from my lives."  
  
A soft _thunk_ made them both turn to see the life pod, floating inside the docking air lock having hit the door. Samus signalled the terrified man in the control box to open the door, and once it was pressurised he did so.  
  
Ridley crawled into the airlock and shoved the pod out. "You have time Samus Aran. A gift." Then he tore the young woman from his left hand and threw it to her. Samus tried to swallow down her hatred as the body landed with a heavy thump, its contorted features staring blankly at the ceiling. Ridley gave a last toothy smile before letting out a grating cry that was cut off as the air lock closed, leaving him to grin as he launched himself into space.  
  
Samus didn't bother to watch him fly off. She rushed to the pod and almost ripped the space sealed door from its frame. Inside Patricia looked up at her with dull eyes. "S-S-Sam."  
  
Samus took her hand and helped her out of the pod, but they got no further as Patricia hurled herself onto her armoured friend, holding onto her as if her life depended on it and crying herself into exhaustion.  
  
"I'm sorry Trish," Samus whispered to her as she fell limp in her arms. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Patricia looked up towards the door as the announcer sounded. "Come in," she said, despite herself. Sitting amongst her bags the last thing she wanted was company but it came out as a reflex. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't want to do it. Not without...  
  
"Samus?" Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the object of her affections, and her fears, standing in the doorway, once again unsuited. "Wha..? I... thought you'd left already. You've got to hunt that thing down!"  
  
Samus came in slowly and sat herself down on the bed, looking at her feet, thoroughly ashamed. "I'm sorry about all of this Trish. I never meant any of it to happen. I didn't think anyone would have reason to try."  
  
"What do you mean?" Patricia asked, confused. "I'm okay, and you got what you wanted."  
  
"If it had been anyone else I would have let them die," Samus admitted quietly. "I'd have killed Ridley on the spot and taken the information anyway." She paused, her heart heavy. "This place isn't safe. You need to leave. Now. Go somewhere they won't find you and lie low." Looking around the room she could see that Patricia had already had the same idea. She was always a clever girl.  
  
"I'm going," Patricia confirmed. "I was going to find you. No Sam, listen..." She took a breath, steadying her nerves. "Right now the safest place to be is right next to you. If you're going to pull that then you're going to have to take me with you. I don't care if you don't... love me. Either I'm staying here, or I'm staying with you."  
  
"Haven't you had _enough_!?" Samus shouted at her, startling her back against the wall. "I told you what my life does to people! After all this... Do you want your whole life to turn out like that!?"  
  
"No," Patricia whispered back. "But I don't want to spend my whole life worrying about you either. When you're off hunting these things, wondering if you'll make it this time, wondering if I'll ever see you again, and what will have happened if I do. Sam, if these things, people, whatever, want to find me then they will, and there's nothing you can do about it."  
  
"Unless I'm there."  
  
Patricia nodded. "I'll make myself my own power suit if that's what it will take for you to let me come with you."  
  
Samus looked at her seriously, knowing that Trish was going to win here. "If you come with me, you'll be in danger _all _the time. Not just the odd mugger or kidnapper Trish. Even the _wildlife_ I end up having to deal with can be lethal."  
  
Patricia understood. "I never want to go through that again, I was so scared Sam, but I can at least help by being on the other end of a radio. Fixing you up when you need me to. I live in these three rooms, so a cramped ship won't make much difference to me."  
  
Samus smiled in gentle defeat. "I just want you to be safe, because I do care about you Trish."  
  
The smile that broke onto Patricia's lips was heavenly, and she could feel her eyes getting misty. "Don't worry Sam, I can wait a little. You go and clobber that lizard. I guess our holiday is cancelled though."  
  
"No," Samus replied. "I'm not going to play his game."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Samus sat forward. "Ridley talked too much. He gave out too much information. You don't ever want to know half of what he said, but how much was true and how much was bait I don't know. He wants me to run after him, but he also told me I had time. Time before what I don't want to know, but I'm going to take that time, so when I put him down it's going to be for good."  
  
She was going to take down the gene supplies first, and make sure she had everything she possibly could in order to put him out of her misery permanently. "I can learn how to use that phazon beam, I can try and find a way to boost my energy reserves, and I can take the time to think before I act. Get myself calm and focused. I'm going to take some time off out of the suit. I don't need help putting it back on after all. And if you won't hide for me I suppose you'll have to help me instead."  
  
Patricia beamed at her. "I'll do my best."  
  
Samus gave a sigh at her shy enthusiasm. "When did you get so strong willed?"  
  
Patricia's smile just shone back in response. "Umm, could you just give me a minute? There's something I have to do before I go."  
  
"Sure," Samus replied. "I'll take some of the bags to the ship."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Samus shouldered two of the larger bags as Patricia left and took another one in each hand before heading for her ship. She tried to ignore the stares she was getting, knowing they were not towards Samus Aran who had destroyed a station block, but just to a tall, faceless woman with too much luggage. While she had been in her suit the looks had been much more deadly. She knew she wouldn't be coming back here for a long time. Thankfully the damage had been contained to only one of the commercial blocks, but it was still a blow to the station and she was the ideal one to lay their blame on. She hoped Patricia wouldn't be on the receiving end of that.  
  
When she got back to the room the youthful tech had already returned, and her happy if somewhat nervous face was enough to convince the hunter that she hadn't been victimised for her part in the destructive fiasco. "Come on," Samus said, taking one of the other bags out of Patricia's hands. "We'd better go before they start wanting more reports, and I know we've already been caught on camera once."  
  
Patricia nodded and followed her, locking the door as they left. They were her own quarters after all, even if she doubted she was ever going to be back. She slipped a tentative hand into Samus', and to her surprise the hunter held it with comforting strength. Patricia looked up at her as the walked on, feeling warm despite their current situation. In her back pocket she could feel the two little boxes, each containing its gold ring.  
  
Patricia leaned into Samus slightly as they walked off to the ship, each uncertain of what might be ahead.  
  
Right then however their worries didn't seem to matter all that much.

* * *

The End

* * *

Feedback is always welcome so please leave your thoughts. Thank you.  
  
Thanks to Richard King for proof reading.  
  
(c) 2004 Nutzoide


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